The 1968 California Golden Bears football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the

Pacific-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

(Pac-8) during the

1968 NCAA University Division football season In the 1968 NCAA University Division football season, the system of "polls and bowls" changed. The Associated Press returned to its pre-1961 system of ranking the Top 20 rather than the Top 10, and voted on the national champion after the bowl ga ...

. In their fifth year under head coach

Ray Willsey Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, the Golden Bears compiled a 7–3–1 record (2–2–1 against Pac-8 opponents), finished in fourth place in the Pac-8, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 243 to 114. This year's team came to be known as "The Bear Minimum". It was let by Ed White, an All-American and future member of College Hall of Fame. Relying on its defense, Cal went 7-3-1 and ranking as high as eighth in the AP poll. It won 21–7 at Michigan and beat No. 10 Syracuse 43–0. Earning three shutouts it held its opponents to 10.4 points a game. As of 2011, The Bear Minimum still held Cal's records for opponents' average gains per play – 3.60, as well as the fewest rushing touchdowns per season – five (same as the 1937 " Thunder Team"). Its average yards per rush was 2.51 which is still second only to the "Thunder Team" with 2.50 yards per rush. The team's statistical leaders included Randy Humphries with 1,247 passing yards, Gary Fowler with 665 rushing yards, and Wayne Stewart with 679 receiving yards.

Schedule

Roster

References

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

California Golden Bears football seasons

California Golden Bears football The California Golden Bears football program represents the University of California, Berkeley in college football as a member of the Pac-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division I FBS level. The team plays its home games at Californi ...

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